Heat Transfer in Nuclear Power Plants

Course guarantor:

Martin Ševeček

Lecturer:

Dušan Kobylka, Sebastian Nývlt, Martin Ševeček

Tutor:

Dušan Kobylka, Sebastian Nývlt, Martin Ševeček

Supervisor:

Department of Nuclear Reactors

Synopsis:

The course titled Heat Transfer in Nuclear Power Plants presents to the students the fundamental principles of heat transfer with a focus on nuclear power-related applications. Most of the terms and laws were introduced in the course 02TER which is a predecessor of this course. The course 17STJE elaborates the principles in details and extends the knowledge of students mainly in the areas related to the heat transfer in nuclear cores.

An overview lecture of the basic principles will be given at the beginning of the course and all of the fundamental heat transfer mechanism will be discussed during the next weeks. It will start with conduction followed by convection and radiation at the end. The course focuses on the applications of thermokinetics related to nuclear reactors and equipment related to nuclear power plants and spent nuclear fuel. For that reason, conduction and convection are to be discussed into details. Convection is divided according the nature of the flow into laminar and turbulent. The concept of radiative heat transfer was theoretically introduced in previous courses and the applications and models used by industry will be presented here. The course includes also fundamentals of heat transfer with phase changes main emphasis is given to boiling.

Requirements:

To obtain course credit, students must achieve a minimum of 15 points until the end of the semester, accumulated from two credit tests administered in the middle and at the end of the semester (each worth 15 points). Additional points may be earned through active participation in class or by solving optional homework problems. Students who are absent from a class session in which a credit test is held are entitled to one substitute date (outside regular class hours, subject to prior agreement). For each unexcused absence exceeding two missed class sessions, 3 points will be deducted. At the end of the semester, students with 1014 points are entitled to take a remedial credit test; credit will be granted if the student achieves at least 50% of the possible score.

The final examination consists of a written and an oral part. The written exam is worth 70 points, and together with the semester points, the total score is evaluated according to the standard CTU grading scale, which determines the grade from the written part of the exam. In cases where the written grade corresponds to AE, the student proceeds to the oral examination, during which several questions covering the course content are asked. The grade from the oral examination is then averaged with the grade from the written examination (rounded up), and this final grade is recorded in KOS.

Syllabus of lectures:

1. Introduction to heat transfer

2. Conduction heat conduction equation and its solution in slab geometry

3. Conduction solution of the heat conduction equation in cylindrical coordinates, fin theory

4. Conduction solution of the heat conduction equation with heat sources, heat conduction in multiple coordinate systems

5. Similarity theory

6. Introduction to convection

7. External convection

8. Internal convection

9. Convection with phase change

10. Heat exchanger design calculation

11. Radiative heat transfer

12. Guest lecture from industry practice

Syllabus of tutorials:

The exercises are focused on the practical application of theoretical knowledge from lectures. A credit test is written during the 6th and 12th exercise sessions.

Exercise outline:

1. Introductory problems on the law of energy conservation

2. Problems on heat conduction through layers

3. Problems on fin theory

4. Problems on fin theory, problems on heat conduction in materials with internal heat sources

5. Problems on heat conduction in materials with internal heat sources

6. Credit test (introduction to heat transfer and conduction), problem on introduction to convection

7. Problems on external forced convection

8. Problems on external natural convection

9. Problems on internal convection and convection in narrow gaps

10. Problems on convection with phase change and in liquid metals

11. Problems on thermal radiation

12. Credit test (convection and radiation)

Study Objective:

Study materials:

Recommended literature:

[1] R. Hejzlar. Sdílení tepla. České vysoké učení technické v Praze. ISBN 80-01-02974-3.

[2] F. P. Incropera, D. P. DeWitt. Introduction to Heat Transfer. Wiley, 1996. ISBN 9780471390817.

[3] N. E. Todreas, M. S. Kazimi. Nuclear Systems I: Thermal Hydraulic Fundamentals. Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, 1990. ISBN 1-56032-051-6.

[4] N. E. Todreas, M. S. Kazimi. Nuclear Systems II: Elements of Thermal Hydraulic Design. Taylor & Francis, 1993. ISBN 978-1-4822-3958-4.

[5] P. L. Dhar. Thermal System Design and Simulation. Academic Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0-12-809449-5.

[6] R. K. Rajput. Engineering Thermodynamics. Laxmi Publications, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7637-8272-6.

[7] Y. A. Çengel, M. A. Boles. Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach. McGraw-Hill, 8th edition, 2015. ISBN 978-0073398174.

[8] S. V. Patankar. Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, 1980. ISBN 0-07-048740-5.

Note:

Time-table for winter semester 2025/2026:

Time-table is not available yet

Time-table for summer semester 2025/2026:

Time-table is not available yet

The course is a part of the following study plans:

• Jaderné inženýrství - Jaderné reaktory (PS)